GEOG101: World Regional Geography

The United States and Canadian governments have engaged in their own versions of Russification as they tried to indoctrinate groups of indigenous children into their European-based culture. The impact of the residential boarding schools they created continues as Canada and the United States take steps to acknowledge their roles in what some call a version of cultural genocide.

In 2008, Canada created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to document the history and lasting effects of the Canadian Indian residential school system on indigenous students and their families. In 2015, the Commission released a summary report of its findings and "94 Calls to Action" to "redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation".

In 2021, the U.S. Senate introduced the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act. They referred the legislation to the Committee on Indian Affairs, but no further action has been taken.

Beyond these commissions, both countries have begun locating the burial sites associated with these schools, exhuming the bodies, and returning them to their respective tribes. Watch these two videos, which highlight the loss of cultural heritage in terms of food and language.

Sean Sherman, an Ogalala Lakota, is a chef from the Pine Ridge Reservation in southeastern South Dakota.